Holly Potter: Savior of the Wizarding World?
by penguins-n-skittles
Summary: When Holly Potter was just a year old, she became an orphan. Sent to live with her aunt, she was never told the truth of her origins. Follow Holly through her first year at Hogwarts as she tries to make friends and learn to be a witch. A Girl Harry story
1. Cousins and Clandestine Meetings

Disclaimer: I obviously do not own Harry Potter or anything else in JK Rowling's world. I am merely borrowing them to play around with for the moment.

Author's Note: I don't have much to say before I start the story, but I will say something. This is my first attempt at a public Harry Potter fanfic. I've written quite a bit more, but I want to see if anyone will read this first. While I know there are a lot of Harry as a girl stories, I hope it is different enough from those other fanfics and the books to be enjoyable. Constructive reviews are very much appreciated.

Anyone who had met the Dursleys and spoken to them could tell you that they were as normal as you could get. They were so normal that Petunia and Vernon Dursley hated things that were different. Vernon worked in a company that made drills while Petunia was the perfect housewife who took care of their darling one-year-old son, Dudley. The Dursleys were complete opposites in looks but seemed to have similar attitudes.

There was one thing that nobody knew about them. Petunia had a sister named Lily. Lily and her husband James Potter were what the Dursleys could only describe as _weird_. When Lily had sent a letter merely a week or so after Petunia had given birth to Dudley, the tall woman had found out that her sister had also borne a child. This child, her sister had went on to explain in the letter, was a girl that they had agreed to name Holly Imogen Potter and who James had said would look just like her mother.

Petunia had read the letter through, though she hadn't written back. The Dursleys rarely talked about Petunia's sister and her family. Lily had written several letters throughout the year saying that she thought her daughter and Dudley should get together for some play dates, since they were cousins. In the weeks before Halloween after Dudley had turned one, Lily sent yet another letter. In this letter, Lily wrote that she and James were coming up the week after Halloween with little Holly, even if Petunia didn't write back, since Lily wanted to see her sister and nephew. Unfortunately, this was not to be.

Though Halloween went on normally enough for the Dursleys, they would find their world turned upside down soon. The day after Halloween, Vernon had gone to work like normal, though he had noticed several rather strange things happening during the day. There had been numerous people who had apparently forgotten that Halloween was the day before, wearing cloaks and seemingly overexcited for something. One of the weirdos had even given him a hug. Then there were all the owls that were flying around, even though it was daytime. Not to mention the fireworks that seemed to come out of nowhere. So many weird things were happening that Vernon was beginning to wonder if the world had gone mad. Of course, Petunia knew nothing about this since she had spent her day with Dudley.

Only one odd thing had happened to Petunia. She had seen a cat sitting on their wall and had tried to shoo it away. The gray and white tabby cat had looked at her reproachfully. Then, the cat had lifted its paw and waved it at Petunia as if it was trying to tell her to go away. This has caused Petunia to huff and threaten the cat with a broomstick, but the cat had just seemed to roll its eyes and moved to a spot where the housewife couldn't reach it. Once she had gotten back into the house, the cat had climbed back onto the wall, where it was apparently waiting for something.

What the cat was waiting for didn't come until late at night, when an old man with a long white beard appeared on the road and took out all of the lights on the street with some strange type of lighter. As soon as he reached the Dursley house, 4 Privet Drive, he sat down next to the cat, "Aha, Minerva, I'm so glad to see that you're here. I take it that you've been watching Miss Potter's family to see what they're like. What have you seen?"

The cat he was talking to had suddenly turned into an older woman with black hair pulled into a bun and wearing a green cloak, "Albus, that family is absolutely horrendous! The father is overbearing and lets his son get away with anything, the mother is nosy and self-righteous, and that dreadful boy is spoiled and coddled to the point where he's going to be selfish and a bully. You're telling me that we must leave the savior of the wizarding world here?"

Albus Dumbledore sighed as he adjusted his half-moon glasses and looked towards the house they were talking about, "This is the best place for young Potter to live. Any child who grows up in the wizarding world when every wizard will grow up knowing of her tale will be unfortunately altered and shall we say, conceited. It's better for her to grow up in a house where they do not know the name of Voldemort. Living with her muggle aunt and uncle will, I pray, give the young girl a level head."

Dumbledore ignored the flinching that Minerva McGonagall did when he spoke Voldemort's name. Seeing the truth in his words, she could only sigh and look around, "Where is young Holly anyways? You sent me an owl telling me to watch the Dursleys for you and that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has been killed by a child. Surely you must have been mistaken."

The older wizard shook his head, "First, I don't see why you can't call Voldemort by his name. Secondly, I don't know if he's dead but it does appear that he's gone. He killed both James and Lily Potter before he tried to use the killing curse on the girl, though it seems that it had backfired on him. With most of those involved dead and young Potter only a little over a year old, it's very unlikely that we'll be getting the whole story as to what has happened. Lastly, I had some things that I needed to do so I had Hagrid pick up the child and bring her here."

McGonagall looked incredulous, "Hagrid? Why, he might drop her and then where will we be? Surely you could have found a more suitable caretaker for the girl."

Dumbledore seemed strangely amused, "My dear Minerva, I trust Hagrid implicitly. While I admit that he does sometimes forget his own strength, he will treat Miss Potter with the greatest of care."

Professor McGonagall seemed to be ready to make another comment until a low rumbling sound seemed to be coming from somewhere above them, which successfully distracted her. Both professors looked up to see a huge motorcycle coming down towards them. Even though the motorcycle was big, the man on it seemed too large even for that vehicle. While Dumbledore was tall, this man seemed to make him look small. In the giant's arms was a tiny bundle of pink blankets which he was holding very carefully. Dumbledore looked from Hagrid to the motorcycle he had come in on, "I didn't know you had a motorcycle, Hagrid. You didn't have any problems, did you?"

Rubeus Hagrid shook his head, still looking at the bundle in his arms, "Sirius Black let me borrow his motorcycle. I managed to get her out easily enough, though she made quite a fuss until she fell asleep. I think she was wondering where her mum and dad were. As I was leaving, the muggle authorities seemed to be getting ready to swarm the place. Lucky they didn't see me."

Both Dumbledore and McGonagall came closer to examine the baby in all of the blankets that Hagrid was holding. They could just barely see the girl, who was indeed sleeping. She didn't have much hair but the hair that they could see was the same color as Lily's had been, dark red. They could tell it would be wavy or curly as well. McGonagall was the first one to notice the lightning-shaped cut on the girl's forehead. She looked to Dumbledore, "I suppose that's where the curse…"

Dumbledore nodded as he studied the baby, "Yes, it must be. I'm sure she's going to have a scar there for the rest of her life. While I'm sure that we could chat all evening, it's best not to dawdle. Shall we get this over with? There are celebrations that I am sure that you two would love to attend."

As he spoke, Dumbledore took the baby from Hagrid. Hagrid kissed her forehead as a good-bye, looking miserable. While the older wizard was placing Holly on the doorstep, Hagrid burst into tears. McGonagall patted his back, whispering to him. Then, Dumbledore took a letter out of his cloak and put it inside Holly's blankets. Once he came back to the others, they both noticed he seemed more subdued than usual. Dumbledore turned to look at Hagrid, "I do believe that Sirius would like his bike back…"

Hagrid didn't say anything, but he did give them a nod goodbye as he walked back to the motorcycle and started it up. They could still hear his sobs over the rumbling of the motorcycle while he flew away. Before McGonagall left, she wanted to ask Albus something, "What do you expect she'll be like when she gets to Hogwarts, Albus? I highly doubt that she'll be a squib, so she will most definitely be joining us at Hogwarts."

Dumbledore gave McGonagall a slight smile, "I am very sure that she will be studying at Hogwarts as well. I think that like many of the new students who come to us, she will be well-adjusted, curious, excited, and ready to learn. Of course, I do not know whether this will come true or not. We shall get to see in ten years, though that seems like a long time right now. One can only hope…"

Satisfied that the answer was the best one Dumbledore could have given her at the moment, McGonagall nodded and then seemed to disappear. Dumbledore clicked the lighter in his hand and all of the lights returned to Privet Drive. Before he disappeared as well, he took one last look at the bundle of blankets and spoke softly, "No matter how much one wants too, one can not see the future. I'm so very sorry, Holly."

A/N: So, that's the first chapter to the story. As I said before, I've written quite a bit of this already for my own amusement, so I'd be willing to continue if I get enough positive feedback on this. This is pretty much a fun distraction from other things I should be doing. I will state right now that many of the events in the first year book will happen, but Holly will make different choices than Harry and these choices will have a sort of snowball effect. While the first year is similar, the others will end up much different than the books.


	2. Of Letters and Giants

Disclaimer: I don't own much, so I'm pretty sure that Harry Potter and everything in the books is not on my list of belongings.

A/N: So I've gotten bored and decided to put this up as well. It's not really much, but it at least establishes Holly's character somewhat and her home life.

Her dream started out as it normally did, as if she was watching a very old movie in her head. She couldn't see any faces clearly and the audio sounded like a radio station that was out of tune with lots of static, becoming louder and going softer at odd moments. If asked about it later, there would be only three things that she would remember. The first two things were tied together.

She would remember quite clearly the piercing red eyes that would stare down at her with a look of hatred so great that she was surprised that she didn't burst into flames. Connected to those eyes was a twisted laugh that caused her to cringe even just thinking about it. The last memory was a much more pleasant part after the feeling of dread that the first half of her dream caused her. The dream would usually end with her on a flying motorcycle, heavy with sadness but feeling, in an odd way, free.

Her dream quickly left her mind as a loud pounding sounded on the door to her room, if that was what you could call it. Really, it was more of a closet and her bed barely fit in there with a dresser that looked about ready to fall apart. The ten-year-old stretched as she sat up in her bed. She flinched as her aunt's shrill voice came from the other side of her door, "Holly Imogen Potter! Your uncle and cousin are hungry and I expect you to have breakfast ready in 20 minutes or you will not be eating!"

Letting out a sigh, the young girl got out of bed and went to her dresser to get her clothes, "Yes, Aunt Petunia. I'll be down in a minute."

Hearing the footsteps going down the stairs, Holly could only frown at the clothes that were clearly bought from a thrift store. Her pants had holes in them and the ugly yellow and green shirt was so large that she would almost call it a circus tent. To keep from looking even more ridiculous, she had put on a belt so that it didn't fall off. Quickly brushing through her wild curls, she put on her taped-up glasses and headed down the stairs.

The young girl stopped at the bottom as she heard her aunt say her name. Pausing to listen, she could tell that they hadn't heard her come down. Her aunt was still talking, "Vernon, what are we going to do with the girl? This is about the same time that my sister got her you-know-what. She turns 11 in a week and a half, you know."

Not knowing what her aunt was talking about, Holly listened to her uncle speak, "Petunia dear, we'll just ignore it as we have all these years. What the brat doesn't know won't hurt her. We'll keep her around until she's of age and then toss her out or foist her on some poor lad."

Having heard enough of their talk, Holly walked back up half the steps and then made her steps loud so that they would stop their conversation. She walked into the kitchen with an overly cheerful smile, "Good morning Aunt Petunia, Uncle Vernon. I was thinking that scrambled eggs, bacon, and hash browns would make for a good breakfast. How does that sound to you?"

Her uncle just grunted in what she took to be agreement while her aunt gave her what could only be considered a shrewd, calculating look. Her aunt sat down at the table where a large amount of presents were sitting on top of the table. Groaning silently, the youth remembered that it was her cousin's birthday. She always hated the fact that her and her cousin Dudley had birthdays so close together. This was just another reminder of how they barely tolerated her presence in their house.

Her musings were broken as she heard stomping coming down the stairs. Aunt Petunia just glared at her niece, "Remember, any of the food that gets burned or doesn't turn out right, you eat."

Her uncle huffed as he turned his attention to the niece that was dropped on their doorstep when she was less than a year and a half, "You're getting a little pudgy there, girl. Don't really think you need much food, anyways."

She was saved from answering as her cousin came into the room, carrying a stick. He was whacking anything he could reach with the stick. Holly winced as he whacked her hand when she put the finished breakfast on the table. Dudley's parents made sure to heap food onto his plate while she got a small portion of eggs, two pieces of bacon, half a piece of toast, and an even smaller portion of hash browns which was all on a plate that was half the size of the rest of the family's.

As soon as they heard the mail come, Holly was out of her seat and heading to get it. If she didn't get it in a timely manner, she was positive that Vernon would make sure that she got a few whacks on her shins with Dudley's stick. She wasn't allowed to look at whose name was on the letters either, since nobody sent her any mail anyways. As Dudley was opening his presents, Holly tossed the mail onto the table. A blue envelope with elaborate silver writing caught the eye of every single family member.

That's when the girl with dark red hair and bright hazel eyes noticed that the envelope had her name on it. As she went to grab the letter, her cousin whacked her hand with his stick and her uncle grabbed the letter. This is when Holly happened to see that both her aunt and uncle were pale and nervous looking. Her uncle quickly ripped the letter into pieces without a word. The war of the letters was started with the next three words that came from Holly's mouth, "What is Hogwarts?"

**HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP**

Those three words had caused quite a commotion in the Dursley household. Petunia, in true drama queen fashion, had ended up fainting. Vernon had turned red and sputtered out nonsense about impertinent questions and females knowing their place. They had been so angry that Holly had run up to her room and hidden in there for the rest of the day, only coming out for the dinner she had to cook anyways.

In her room, she had a box hidden under her bed. This box had a collection of books that she had gotten out of the trash after Dudley had tossed them. She didn't know why anyone would give Dudley books for his birthday when they knew he hated reading, but they did. If Petunia and Vernon ever found out about her secret stash of books, they would have burned them. Their philosophy was that giving a woman any knowledge was a dangerous thing. Women were expected to be the window dressing on their successful husband's arm. If it wasn't required, they would have kept her out of school. These books and her imagination were Holly's only escape from the horrible life that she was living in the Dursley house.

Throughout the week, more of these letters had been coming to the house. Not even Dudley could get his parents to tell about what these letters were about or why they didn't want Holly to read these letters. She had lost count around Wednesday since the letters were turning up in the oddest of places, like the potted plant next to the door or in the toaster when she was trying to make toast. The Dursleys had been watching nearly every move she had made during the week. Any letter that was spotted was quickly thrown into the fireplace by Vernon, who had a peculiar sickly smile on his face.

The only place that she had any peace was in her room, since it had no windows and only one door so they figured no letters could get in there. For this reason, she hid herself in her room more often than not. That was where she found herself on the day before her birthday, hiding from all three members of her family. Sighing, she pulled the box of books out from under her bed, thinking she would reread Dracula for what seemed like the fiftieth time.

This plan was not meant to be, though. As soon as she opened the box, she let out a gasp. Lying on top of her books was one of the blue envelopes which read _Ms. Holly Potter, Closet by the Stairs, 4 Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. _Turning it over, Holly found a purple wax seal with a coat of arms on it. She ran her hand over it, admiring the intricate work. There was a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake all surrounding a large letter _H_.

Listening to make sure no one was by her door, the young girl opened the envelope and took out a piece of parchment. She read it out loud to herself, "Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confederation of Wizards.) Dear Miss Potter, We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment. Term begins on September 1. Due to your odd situation, we've provided a guide to help you. Please remind your guide to send word by owl of your answer. Yours sincerely, Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress."

Holly had to read the letter several times through, shaking her head as she quirked her eyebrow at words like witchcraft, wizardry, and mugwump. Figuring that this was some kind of cruel joke, she decided to talk to her aunt and uncle about it. Making her way down the stairs, the nearly 11-year-old talked before she even got to the living room, "Whose cruel idea was this? Sending a nonsense letter about some school for witches and wizards… Everyone knows that magic only exists in books."

The three Dursleys seemed to be deep in discussion that had stopped as soon as they had heard her voice. Her uncle's face turned red as he saw the opened letter in her hand, "Where in the devil did you get that?"

Slightly surprised at the angry tone in her uncle's voice, Holly's answer was quieter than it normally would be, "It was under my bed. I figured that one of you had slipped it there while I was sleeping."

Of course, now that she thought about it, that had been a ridiculous idea. None of the Dursleys really had a sense of humor and if either adult had found her books, they would have been confiscated. Dudley would have probably used the books as blackmail for her to do his chores. She ended up missing what her uncle had said since she was deep in thought. She was about to ask more questions when a thunderous booming came from the front door. The dark-haired girl noticed all the color drain from the faces of her relatives as she made her way to the door.

Opening the door, she was shocked to find a giant on their doorstep. She couldn't see much of the giant's face since he had long, shaggy hair and a beard that covered most of his face. The only thing she could make out was his black eyes. The young girl quickly got out of his way as he came into the house. He had to stoop to get in the house and his head was dangerously close to hitting the ceiling, even while he was stooping.

All three of her relatives were frozen in fear, staring at the giant man. The man took in the scene before him, snorting as his glance trained on the Dursleys. Once his look stopped at Holly, who had moved into the living room as well, his eyes held a much softer look. He breathed out in amazement and recognition, "Holly, you're the spitting image of your mother, Lily…"

These seemed to be the magic words to break Uncle Vernon out of the spell he was under, "That's it. I will not have you coming into my house! She's not going to your freak school!"

Vernon had gotten out of his seat and rushed to the man, though he stopped when he realized that he couldn't compete against him. Snorting again, the giant seemed to decide to ignore the Dursleys for the moment as he turned his attention back to the small girl, "I know it's a bit early, but happy eleventh birthday! I baked this myself, specially for you."

With those words, he pulled out a chocolate cake that looked a bit squashed from inside the pockets of his large coat. Surprising herself, Holly found tears in her eyes. No one had ever gotten her a cake before. Though she didn't want to be rude, the girl had a question for him, "I'm sorry, but who are you?"

This question caused the man to laugh, "Yeah, I suppose I should have gotten to that first. My name is Rubeus Hagrid. I'm the Keeper of Keys and Grounds at Hogwarts."

Thinking for a minute, the young girl nodded, "I got the letter that was sent, but I've never heard of this Hogwarts. What is it? I was taught that magic never existed."

Holly's ignorance of Hogwarts seemed to anger the giant as he glared at the Dursleys, "You've never told her? I knew she wasn't being treated well, but you've never even told her about her heritage? What have you been teaching her about being a witch?"

This time Holly was the one who snorted, "A witch? I'm no more a witch than Dudley is a duke. You must have the wrong Holly Potter."

Hagrid's reaction to her reaction surprised Holly. He laughed, "Nope, I've got the right girl for sure. Like I said, you look just like your mother, Lily, though now I see you've got your dad's eyes."

Holly moved closer to Hagrid, having never been able to talk about her parents before, "You knew them? My mother and father? What were they like?"

Before Hagrid could say anything, Petunia was on her feet without thinking, "No no no! The girl is not going to your filthy magic freak school! She's going to finish up her schooling in normal things. We don't need you filling her head with nonsense like that school did with my sister. That's why she died!"

The young girl's eyes widened as she turned to her aunt, "I thought she died in a car crash. How could magic have anything to do with that?"

Petunia covered her mouth with her hands, realizing she had said too much. Vernon's face was turning an ugly purple shade and Dudley was just sitting with a wide-eyed look on his face, staring back and forth between his cousin and the giant in the doorway. Hagrid's anger seemed to have reached a boiling point, "A CAR CRASH? No car crash would kill Lily and James Potter! And a car crash certainly wouldn't have caused that scar on young Holly's head! I can't believe that every witch and wizard knows Holly's story, but she doesn't know it herself."

Holly put her hands on Hagrid's much larger arms, causing him to calm down a bit, "If it wasn't a car crash, then what happened? How did my parents die?"

Hagrid stared down at the young girl's eager face, his expression turning to one of pity, "Dumbledore said I'd have some problems, but I didn't think this would be one of them. I'll tell you on the way to get your school things."

This announcement caused Vernon to try yet again to take hold of the situation, "I am not going to pay anything for this blasted girl's worthless education! See how well she does with no books and the like!"

Hagrid grunted as he glared at the Dursleys yet again. Shaking his head, he smiled at Holly, "We'll talk about this someplace else. Right now, let's just head off to Diagon Alley before I decide to do something I'll really regret."

Hagrid eyed the young girl's appearance since she was again in clothes that looked like they belonged in a dumpster. There were some old stains from someone else's wearing them on her jeans and threads sticking out on her shirt. Holly just shrugged, knowing that this was the best that she was going to do. Shaking his head as he glared at the Dursleys again, Hagrid led Holly out of the house. They left all the Dursleys looking shocked and not knowing what to do. Holly was sure that the Dursleys had let her go with Hagrid because his appearance had shocked them and they probably thought he could put some sort of spell on them.

A/N: I know it is probably hard to believe that a child of the age of 10 or 11 would read _Dracula_, but I figure that Holly really hasn't had much fun in her life and would take to reading. For that reason, I would think that she'd have a much higher reading level than normal.


	3. Of Robes and Wands

Disclaimer: Again, I don't own anything. I barely own the plot, really.

A/N: I don't know if this is any good since I'm usually half asleep when I write anyways. Holly gets to go to Diagon Alley!

The conversation that they had on the way to get her school supplies was severely limited. She had found out that her parents had been killed by a dark wizard named Voldemort (who Hagrid didn't like saying the name of and kept calling You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named) and that he had been unable to kill her for some reason. Apparently, the spell that he had used to try to kill her had backfired. Hagrid had explained how he didn't believe that Voldemort had been killed that night, but he couldn't give her a reasonable explanation for what happened to the dark wizard. He had also explained some things about the wizarding world, focusing mainly on things she would need to know about Diagon Alley.

Walking into the Leaky Cauldron had been an odd experience for young Holly. Once they had spotted the lightning-shaped scar on her forehead and Hagrid had said her name, everyone in the pub had come up to shake her hand and talk to her. She had been polite, but was clearly distressed by her new-found fame and all the attention. Luckily, Hagrid had seen this and quickly shepherded her out of there and into Diagon Alley.

Diagon Alley was nothing like she had ever seen before. There were all sorts of people wearing strange outfits and haggling over items like cauldrons, dragon livers, potion bottles, and other odd things Holly had only read about in her books. Staring around at the stores, she frowned, "I don't mean to sound ungrateful after all the things you told me on the way here, but how am I supposed to pay for my books and all of the other school supplies? I've never gotten an allowance or anything. The Dursleys certainly don't have any wizarding money even if they would pay for the stuff."

Hagrid just smiled at her concern, "Don't you be worrying about that. You're grandparents on your father's side were well off and your parents added to the family coffers. That's actually our first stop. We're headed to Gringotts."

Holly audibly gulped as she followed behind Hagrid, "Gringotts? You mean the bank you were telling me about where goblins work?"

Hagrid nodded, "Yep, and they supposedly have dragons to protect wizard valuables. What I wouldn't give for a dragon…"

They were now at the entrance to the wizard bank, where Hagrid paused to let Holly read the engraving out loud, "_Enter stranger, but take heed Of what awaits the sin of greed, For those who take, but do not earn, Must pay dearly in their turn. So if you seek beneath our floors, A treasure that was never yours, Thief, you have been warned, beware Of finding more than treasure there. _They don't kill thieves, do they?"

Hagrid laughed, "They don't need to. Anyone who tries to steal will end up lost and probably dead. Only the stupid or crazy would try to steal from Gringotts."

Their trip to her vault didn't take long and she could only gape at the small fortune as Hagrid put some money in a bag for her. They also went to another vault, vault 713, which only held one small brown package that Hagrid took out. Once they had left Gringotts, Hagrid looked sick, "You go get measured for your robes, I'm going to get myself a drink…"

Nervous, Holly walked into Madam Malkin's alone. Madam Malkin herself came up to Holly with a kind smile, "Need robes for Hogwarts, deary?"

Holly couldn't even speak so she just nodded. She followed Madam Malkin to the back of the shop where a pale boy with platinum blond hair was being fitted. As they were putting the black robe over her head, the boy sneered at her clothes, "Are you a Weasley?"

Looking confused, Holly shook her head, "A Weasley? No…"

Shrugging, the boy continued undeterred, "I thought that only Weasleys had red hair and were so poor they couldn't afford clothes. Is this your first year at Hogwarts too, then?"

Nodding, the girl watched as the lady played around with the robes to fit her, "Yes, I just got my letter yesterday."

She wasn't actually sure if he really cared about her answers or if he was just bored enough to talk to anyone, "I see your parents are just like mine. I told them I wanted to look at brooms but they said it would have to wait until after I got my wand, robes, and books. Father is getting my books now. I hope to be in Slytherin. What house do you expect to be in? Do you play Quidditch?"

Holly was beginning to feel stupid, "I'm not really sure what the houses are or what Quidditch is. I only just found out I'm a witch."

Draco looked down his nose at her, "You're a muggleborn, then?"

Before she could answer, Draco's attention was diverted to the front window, "Who is that? I'd be embarrassed to be seen with him."

Holly looked to the front window to find Hagrid holding two ice cream cones. Huffing, she was getting tired of the boy and wanted to defend her new friend, "That's Hagrid. He's one of the nicest people I've ever met and he's here to help me with my shopping."

The boy obviously didn't know when to shut up, "Your parents let you out with that savage? Are they crazy?"

The young girl was about ready to punch him in the face, "My _witch_ mother and my _wizard_ father are dead. I don't remember much about them. Clearly your parents never taught you a little thing called manners."

Their conversation was thankfully cut off as Madam Malkin finished her measuring. Holly was sure of one thing now. She really did not like that arrogant jerk. She also hoped that many of the other students were nicer.

**~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~HP~**

The excitement of her first trip to Diagon Alley didn't stop with the robe shop. Getting her books from Flourish and Blott's had been quiet, but interesting. She had gotten all of her spell books, plus she had managed to talk Hagrid into letting her get some other books so she could learn more about the wizarding world. Holly figured that she could spend the month before school started learning what she could from the books so she didn't look like a total idiot. Most of the books she got were history books, like _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century_ and _Hogwarts: A History_.

After getting her books, they had gone to Ollivander's to get her wand. Hagrid seemed to be distracted as they got to the front door, "You go in. I've got something else I've got to do and the place gives me the creeps."

She walked into Ollivander's by herself, looking around nervously. An old man with a shock of white hair came out from behind the counter, "Another Hogwarts student, I see."

Smiling politely, Holly gave the man a quick nod, "Yes, sir. I'm not quite sure how I'm supposed to pick my wand, though. Hopefully it isn't too hard, sir."

Ollivander walked right up to the girl, "Don't worry about that. You are not actually picking the wand. It is more like the wand is picking you."

The small witch was about to say something when the wand maker got a glance at her forehead. His shock at the sight of her scar was clear, "Well, I'll be. Is this young Holly Potter? I should have recognized you before."

Again, the young girl nodded, "Yes, sir. My name is Holly Potter."

Ollivander couldn't help but smile, "Polite, just like your mother. You look just like her as well. She was a sweet girl, indeed."

Having only heard a little about her parents from Hagrid and nothing from the Dursleys, Holly was curious about what Ollivander had to say, "And I suppose my father bought his wand here as well. What were they like?"

Ollivander shrugged, "Can't say much about your parents, but I can tell you about their wands. Your mother's was ten and a quarter inches long and made of willow. It was good for charms. Your father's was an eleven inch mahogany wand that was better for transfiguration."

Holly tried to keep herself from frowning. She wasn't interested in her parents' wands; she wanted to know more about her parents' personalities. Ollivander's eyes flicked back to her scar, "I daresay you are more interested in the one who gave you that scar. That one was a thirteen and a half inch yew wand. It was a very powerful wand, that one. It's a shame what happened."

Holly cleared her throat, not comfortable with the direction the discussion was taking and deciding to change the topic, "Well, won't it be exciting to see what my wand turns out to be, then."

Shaking his head to clear it, the old wand maker got back to business, "I'll need you to hold out your wand arm. If you are right-handed, hold out the right. Left-handed, hold out the left."

The witch held out her right arm, frowning slightly as the tape measure measured several areas that she didn't think had anything to do with using her wand, like measuring from her knee to her armpit and around her head.

Ollivander was taking boxes off of the shelves that he thought she ought to try, not paying attention to the tape measure. With the first wand she tried, nothing happened. The second wand she tried had a glass vase exploding. With the third wand, a row of boxes fell off the shelf. She kept trying wands until she thought they'd get to the last one and he'd say this was a mistake.

Finally, Ollivander took a box very carefully off the shelf. Handing her the wand, she noticed that he had an expression of determination now, "Here's an unusual wand combination. Why don't you try this one? It's holly with a phoenix feather, eleven inches."

As she took the wand, Holly felt like a missing piece of herself had been reattached. Once she flicked the wand, red and gold sparks came out of the end. Ollivander looked almost ecstatic now, "Very good. It seems we've found your wand. How curious, though."

Holly had been taught not to ask questions since she was old enough to talk, but the Dursleys couldn't stamp out her love of mysteries. In fact, Holly loved both the Agatha Christie collection and the Sherlock Holmes series. For this reason, she had to ask, "What's curious, Mr. Ollivander?"

Mr. Ollivander smiled, though she couldn't tell if it was supposed to be menacing or encouraging, "The same phoenix that gave the feather for your wand gave only one other feather. The brother of your wand that contains the other phoenix feather is the very same wand that gave you your distinctive scar. I'd say that like He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, you will be destined for great things. We shall see just what type of great things in the years to come…"

Holly left the shop, unsure about the conversation that she had just had. She was starting to feel unsettled by her apparent fame and it was only her first day in the wizarding world. She didn't believe that she would ever live up to what people were saying. Her mood quickly turned happier as she spotted Hagrid holding a cage with a beautiful white owl in it, "Oh, that's a lovely owl, Hagrid! What did you name it?"

Hagrid grinned, "She's not mine to name, Holly. I bought her as my very first birthday present to you."

Holly's eyes widened in surprise and she looked as if she was going to cry. The best birthday presents she could expect from her family were things that Dudley had wrecked so much that he couldn't use them anymore or cheap clothes that were badly in need of repair. Impulsively, the young girl rushed to Hagrid and wrapped her arms around as much of him as she could in a tight hug, "This is the best present I've ever gotten in my nearly eleven years. Thank you so much, Hagrid!"

As they walked to the train that would take her back to the Dursleys, Holly ignored the stares that they were getting. Holly stared up at Hagrid with wide eyes, "I just hope that I'll make my parents proud of me. I guess that I have big shoes to fill. Hopefully no one will be disappointed in me…"

Hagrid grinned, "Don't worry, girl. Just be yourself and I'm sure you'll do fine. I bet you'll make friends in no time. By the way, I have something else for you quick before you go."

The young witch couldn't help but frown as Hagrid handed her an envelope, "What's this?"

Hagrid explained as quickly as possible before Holly got on the train to leave, "It's your ticket to Hogwarts. Go to King's Cross on the first of September. All the information you need is on the ticket. If you have any problems, just send your owl to me with a letter. I'll see you at Hogwarts, Holly."

Holly had no chance to ask any more questions as it was clear that the train would be leaving soon. As she got on the train with all her things, she turned to wave goodbye. The only problem was Hagrid was already gone.


End file.
